Silent Gnosis
Founded during the Ultima Founding, the Silent Gnosis chapter is very close to its originator- the Dark Angels. However, this chapter has a very unique relationship with them; Silent Gnosis is intentionally not told any of the chapter’s secrets. “To Know is to Be Unclean” is their motto (“Gnosis” being an ancient word for knowledge) and they do the dirty work the Dark Angels and the other unforgiven can’t because the knowledge of the great secret would preclude them. Silent Gnosis is the chapter that is dispatched when one of the successor chapters is needed to work with the Inquisition or if there is some great risk of a brother marine betraying their secret. The Chapter finds a great honor in “not knowing” as they keep their minds pure from all heretical thoughts. Their service is to bear the burden of ignorance and it is one they take great cautions against. They regularly practice memory wipes on themselves to remove information that could compromise themselves and carry it out on others who the Unforgiven deem worthy. To be a brother in the Silent Gnosis chapter is to live a life of honored ignorance- they remained cloistered from the rest of the Imperium, only accepting communications from specific people. Chapter Cult The brother-marines of Silent Gnosis live the chaste lives of monks, remaining pure in all ways. They pray 12 hours per day and speak only when absolutely necessary. Their proterations are deep and abiding, making them one of the more religious chapters. Because of this they fight with a religious fervor that zeal that few others aside from perhaps the troops of the Adeptus Ministorum. Their faith is an odd one, though not a heretical one. They have a sort of gnosticism about their worship of the Emperor. They believe that the Emperor is the one true deity and that a demiurge created this false, physical, one that we all live in. The demiurge has agents, archons, who they believe to be the lords of chaos and the xenos. They believe the demiurge is not a literal being but a concept representing all those who hold back one from achieving gnosis (knowledge achieved by divine encounters); the xenos, the heretic, and the witch. They seek divine truths through meditations on the divine and thus hope to free themselves (and all of humanity) from the false, physical, imperfect world we are in now and ascend though gnosis to the pure, spiritual, perfect world where the God Emperor resides. The Unforgiven Those chapters that are closest to the Dark Angels are known collectively as the “Unforgiven”. This does not, specifically, include the Silent Gnosis chapter. They are known as the “Uninitiated” or the “Burdened”. It is unclear if this is a distinction made specifically for this chapter alone or if it is a term used to describe other successor chapters who do not know their heritage (and thus the secret). History Established during the Ultima founding by Roboute Guilliman’s order, Silent Gnosis was contacted by those of the Inner Circle and charged with this sacred task. In an act known as the Silent Covenant they were sworn to their burdensome task and dispatched to join Guilliman in his great Indomitus Crusade. They were deployed alongside other Dark Angels chapters from the same founding; including the Angels of Defiance and Blades of Vengeance. During the Indomitus Crusade they were noted for their fanatical determination, skill at torturing enemies to get information, and skill at arms. Since the crusade they have been called to constant battle and have recently been given the task of reclaiming the planet of Gnosis Prime which was depopulated during the Scouring of Gnosis by the Eldar. Though their true fortress-monastery is located on an asteroid known as “The Silent Chamber” they have large installation on Gnosis Secundus called “Burden’s Weight” from where launch their efforts to help return the Gnosis System to the glory it once had while defending it from external threats. They are noted to have once encountered The Reclaimed along with Inquisitor Parmenion of the Ordo Xenos. While they lost two battle brothers they drove it from the field and were able to evacuate the Inquisitor who later made a vital report on it. Showdown at Cold Ridge: Two companies of Silent Gnosis marines fought at Cold Ridge to rid a world of heretical forces that had laid claim to the large moon. The Vanguards provided three fields teams to the Showdown at Cold Ridge between the forces of the Silent Gnosis chapter and the chaos forces under the command of the Dark Savior Klorphius the Hedgemon. After a nearly two month stalemate, a tank blitz broke the enemy’s line and allowed Chief Librarian Sermo Vita decapitated Klorphius and composed a ballard about it called “The Red March of Legion Treds”. Notable Silent Gnosis Marines * Logos Ennoea: Chapter Master of Silent Gnosis and reclusive scholar. He lived a pious life in a hive world where he was a religious mendicant, accepting alms in order to survive. Despite the gangers and a tyranid invasion of his homeworld he left it unscathed. He attributes his great success to his unyielding faith and rigorous mental disciplines. He has a very strong physical resemblance to Lion El'Jonson. * Sermo Vita: Chief Librarian of the chapter and noted musician. He plays an antique string instrument that calls his brethren to prayer in the morning. It’s call reaches many miles in the cold silence of their world. * Anthropos Ecclesia: Chief Chaplain of the chapter and former Deacon of the Imperial Cult. He is as much a scientist as a man of faith and no one escapes his keen eye. He has been known to kill entire scout squads for a single member’s mistake. * Nous Aletheia: Chief Techmarine of Silent Gnosis who is entombed in a dreadnought. Despite this, even when he was alive he was as much machine as he is man. He is an old soul who is very empathetic- though that never gets in the way of his work or his purity. * Monad Ogdoad: The first Chapter Master of Silent Gnosis- the one who made the Silent Covenant. It was said that his skill with a sword was nearly equal to that of a primarch but he was slew by a demon prince of Khorne in a one-on-one duel. To this day the marines of his chapter use fragments of his broken armor as badges of honor. Category:Dark Angels Successors